Facing flak for attracting less-than-expected foreign investment in manufacturing sectors under the Make in India campaign, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has now decided to focus on a few key sectors, instead of all 25 that were included in the scheme.
Launched in September, 2014, the Make in India campaign was a radical shift in India’s plan to boost the manufacturing sector, and push employment and job creation in the country.
According to DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek, a few of the 25 listed priority sectors will be left to be taken care of by their respective ministries.
He, however, refused to divulge the names of the sectors which would no longer be the focus of the DIPP, an arm of ministry of commerce and industry.
According to sources, some of the sectors which could be dropped from the priority list might include construction, media and entertainment, roads and highways, wellness and electrical machinery.
“The DIPP has proposed to concentrate on select sectors, not all 25 sectors and Make in India concern of other sectors can be addressed by their respective ministries. We have sought a cabinet meeting for approval and are likely to finalise the matter soon,” said DIPP secretary .
Abhishek chose to name a few sectors that would remain on the DIPP’s priority list. “These include automobile, electronics manufacturing, food processing, defence and aerospace, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical equipments (surgical items), textile, capital goods and few others.”
Other sectors that form a part of the 25 selected sectors include chemical construction, electrical machinery, IT and BPM (business process management), leather, media and entertainment, mining, oil and gas, ports and shipping, railways, renewable energy, roads and highways, space, thermal power, tourism and hospitality and wellness.
What puts a question mark on the claimed success of Make in India initiative is that a majority of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) India received during the financial year 2015-16, was not for manufacturing sector as per the DIPP data.
Instead, the data shows that core manufacturing sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, power, construction and chemicals attracted about 15% FDI, and non-manufacturing sectors – services, computer software and hardware, and trading, telecommunications, tourism and hotels attracted more than 40% of the FDI.
Source: Hindustan Times
